Once Upon A Time
by thedreamygirl
Summary: Lucas and Nathan learn the truth about each other at the age of 7. Lucas contemplates stopping basketball, while Nathan tries to get back at Lucas…and Haley could be the best way to do so. Season one's early episodes played out with them as kids
1. Chapter 1

**Once Upon A Time**

**Full Summary**: Lucas and Nathan find out the truth about each other at the age of 7. Lucas contemplates stopping playing basketball, while Nathan tries to find a way to get back at Lucas…and Haley could be the best way to do so. Season one's early episodes played out with them as kids.

**A/N**: I'm not sure exactly how old they were when they found out the truth, but in this they're all seven years old and Peyton's mum is still alive (so she's not all depressed). The story is based around the early episodes in season one, but a lot of things are different. For example, they don't go partying or get drunk. They're only in the first grade!

**Chapter One**

Haley waved goodbye to her mother as she drove away, before bouncing up the steps to the back-door of her best friend's house. She turned the doorknob and walked inside with a bright smile on her face, as always. She was surprised when her best friend didn't return the smile. "What's wrong Luke?"

He folded his arms and grumbled something unintelligible. She bounced up to his bed and sat down next to him. "Did something bad happen?"

"I found out who my real Dad is."

"Isn't that a good thing? Knowing who your Daddy is?"

"Not when he's horrible."

"I'm sorry Lukie," Haley leaned over and hugged him.

Lucas wrinkled his nose, but made no other reply.

Haley was surprised. He usually laughed when she called him that, but there wasn't a fraction of a smile on his face. It really was bad. "Does he still not want to be with your mummy and you?"

"No, he has another son," Lucas said bitterly.

"So you have a brother?" Haley began to comprehend.

She was shocked when Lucas sat up suddenly. "Don't call him that! He's not my brother!"

"Who?"

"It doesn't matter! He's not my brother! He's mean and I'm not like him and I'm not playing with him anymore!"

"Playing…like in school?"

"I won't play basketball with him," Lucas said grumpily, and lay back down on the bed.

"But you're really good. You can even shoot a-a-" Haley struggled.

"Basket."

"Yeah. You can get points. You being good at basketball is like me being good in school. It's your special thing."

"Not anymore. I won't play with him."

"But…" Haley began, but she trailed off, sensing Lucas was still upset.

"But what?" He demanded.

"But your broth-I mean…whoever it is…it's not his fault that your Dad left you. Did he know about you?"

"No-"

"So then you can be friends; you're already family!"

"We're not family, Haley! Don't ever say that! My Mummy and Uncle Keith are my family. You, Skills, Mouth and Fergie are my friends. That's it." And he said it in such a way that left no room for argument.

* * *

Nathan Scott hadn't known that when he went to his father's office after school two days ago that he would find pictures of a boy in his class in the bottom drawer of his father's desk. He also hadn't known then what those pictures meant, or why he had them…but now he did. And now, he had a brother.

Well, it turned out that he'd always had a brother since Lucas was the older of the two, but that didn't make a difference to Nathan. Ironically, he was currently in his room lying on his bed in the exact same position as Lucas was at his own house. The only difference was, Nathan lacked a friendly companion; female or otherwise.

But that changed soon, when Nathan heard a knock on his door.

"Go away!" he yelled. "I told you, Mum, I don't wanna see you or Dad."

"I'm not your Mum or Dad," a soft voice said from behind the door.

Nathan raised an eyebrow. That didn't sound like Tim…

Not having heard any objection, the person behind the door opened it a little more, and then fully, revealing their identity.

"Peyton?"

She gave him a small wave. "Hi."

"What are you doing here?" He hadn't meant to sound so harsh, but it just came out. Well, he was mad and she'd just have to deal with it.

"I thought you might want someone to talk to…or some company."

Nathan frowned. "Why?"

"Well…you know…because of Lucas."

At this, Nathan sat up straight. "You know about that?"

Peyton nodded. "Yeah."

"How?"

"Brooke told me."

"How does she know?" Nathan asked rudely.

"Andrea told her, and Sam had told her, but he had got it from Michelle, who had been told by Justin, who-"

"Okay!"

"Well, you asked."

"Right, well thank you very much. You can leave now."

Peyton just stared at him and then made a face. "Fine. Remind me never to try to be nice to people again."

As she left Nathan called out mockingly, "Don't forget to never be nice to people again!"

Peyton turned around and stuck her tongue out at him, then shut the door behind her.

Nathan, alone again, lay back down. She was probably mad at him. Oh, well. They weren't exactly friends. And he never asked her to come. Stupid girl.

Nathan soon forgot about her, but what he couldn't forget was what she said. It looked like everybody in their grade knew. He was never going to tell Tim anything again.

Nathan realized that everyone would be making fun of him now. His Dad had had another son, and it had to be that loser Lucas. It made Nathan want to puke. Yeah! That should be his name – Pukas. Nathan laughed, but it was without feeling. The only thing he was really feeling now was anger…at his parents, but there was nothing he could do about that, except lock himself in his room. But Lucas… he could do something about him.

Nathan knew that his friends, none of whom had come to see him since the news came out, by the way, weren't close to Lucas and they would pick on him too if Nathan asked them too, if only because they liked his big house and basketball court.

An idea struck Nathan. Maybe if they teased Lucas enough they could get him to stop playing basketball with them. Then, at least he wouldn't have to see him so much.

For some reason, he kept recalling what his kindergarten teacher used to say. Back then, they were all told to play together because nobody likes to have no friends. Nathan thought about this…Lucas wouldn't be happy if they made fun of him, but he'd be even less happy if he didn't have friends.

That's what he'd have to do! Nathan wasn't happy so he'd show Lucas what it felt like. He'd make Lucas' friends his friends so then they wouldn't be with Lucas' friends anymore and Lucas would be alone, just like Nathan was now.

In his mind, Nathan started to go through the people he had seen Lucas with. There was the boy with the weird hair, and the one with no hair and a weird name. Then there was the other one who also had a weird name and was always talking. But, which of them would he start with? And would they even want to be friends with him?

It was as he was thinking this that Nathan remembered the girl.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

It was two days since it had been revealed to the Tree Hill public that Dan Scott of Dan Scott Motors had not just one but two sons, and the gossip between the adults was only rivaled by that of Nathan and Lucas' classmates. After two horrific school days neither boy thought they had been as happy to see the weekend arrive.

Nathan was looking out the window of his room at his parent's beach house. Dan and Deborah Scott seemed to think that a weekend trip to the beach would make up for lying to him about having a…urgh…brother. He usually liked the beach, but he wasn't going to give his parents the satisfaction of being cheered up. So, for the past few hours he had been doing exactly what he had been doing at their real house; staying in his room and ignoring his parents.

Through the window he could see a family on the beach. A mother, father and a daughter all playing in the sea, splashing water at each other. They looked happy. The complete opposite of his family, Nathan thought. But soon he noticed something else. Slightly apart from that family's towel and umbrella was another girl, building a sandcastle.

He wasn't sure how he knew, but he did. That was her family too, but…she was apart from them. Like an outsider. It was how he felt too. It took a few minutes before he recognized her.

**

* * *

**Lucas stared at his ceiling grumpily, recalling the events of the past two days. Normally he enjoyed school, but with the recent revelations about his parentage it hadn't been so much fun. He had thought the weekend would be better, but so far his mum and his Uncle Keith had just kept bugging him about basketball when Lucas had casually mentioned that he wasn't going to play anymore. 

There was a knock on the door; Lucas just turned over on his side, facing away from the door and didn't reply.

Keith came inside the room, and closed the door behind him. "Lucas?"

"What?" he spat out, still not looking at him.

Keith sighed, and sat down on a chair. "Lucas…I know this must be hard for you. And I know that you're angry at your mother for keeping it from you. But, she was just trying to protect you."

"Protect me from what?"

"From what people would say about it. You know, as hard as this has been for you, it's been hard on her as well."

"Why? Does nobody come to the café now?" he asked, worried even though he was still mad.

"No, people come. But a lot of people are talking about her."

"That means they're talking about me too."

"I guess it does…" Keith wasn't sure what to say next, so he kept quiet, deciding it was best to give Lucas a little time.

A few minutes later Lucas turned over to look at Keith. "When I was little-" He stopped abruptly when Keith started laughing. "What?"

"Nothing, Luke, it's just…well, you're still kind of little."

"I'm not little."

"You are to me."

Lucas wrinkled his nose, and began again. "When I was _littler_ I used to pretend sometimes that you were my real dad."

Keith took in a deep breath and beamed at him. "Can I tell you something?"

"Yeah."

"I used to pretend that too."

"If you marry my mummy then you could be," Lucas said matter-of-factly.

Keith choked. "Well-I-"

"But, you like her."

"Well, yes, but…"

"But, then why won't you marry her?"

"It's not that simple Luke."

"It could be. You grown ups make everything more difficult by not telling the truth."

"Well-I-Er…Now, about you wanting to stop playing basketball, I don't think that's a good idea."

Lucas was too touchy about this subject to realize that Keith was trying to change the subject. "I want to stop. It's no big deal."

"It is a big deal. You're really good."

"So was he," Lucas said bitterly. "I don't want to be like him; I don't want to be like either of them."

"Then don't. But that doesn't mean you have to stop playing basketball."

"What do you mean?"

"I played basketball; still do. Do you think I'm like him?"

"No," Lucas said finally.

"Well, that's what I mean."

* * *

The moment Nathan saw her through his window his thoughts had gone in a whirlwind. He had managed to find out from Tim that her name was Haley. Nathan didn't really know her himself; the only time they had spoken was that time in the one class they had together when his pencil had broken and she'd given him her spare. She seemed nice, and she wasn't all girly like most of the other girls in their class. As he watched her playing with the sand all by herself he decided if he wanted to make her his friend now was the best time. 

He left his room, closing the door carefully behind him. Nathan had thought that he'd have to be very quiet to slip past his parents but they were arguing so loud that they probably wouldn't hear if a thunderstorm broke out. He walked down the stairs and then out the house, without as much as a glance behind him.

It didn't take Nathan long to find Haley; despite the fact that the weather was good, there weren't many people on the beach and she and her parents were sitting on the other side of everyone else. He made his way towards her, and as he walked behind her family's spot they didn't see him. She didn't notice him at first either, as she was so engrossed in building a perfect sandcastle. Nathan stood behind her silently for a few minutes, discovering he didn't know what to say. Finally he choked out, "Hi-i."

She looked up and even though she was so much smaller than him, her big brown eyes staring at him made him feel…he wasn't sure. If he had known the word intimidated, then he would have realized that that's what it was, but as he didn't he felt all the more nervous. This feeling turned into confusion when she looked back down again, and went back to working on her sandcastle.

"Er…I said hi."

"My parents told me not to talk to strangers."

"My parents told me that too," he said, sitting down across from her. "But I'm not a stranger."

This caught her attention, and she observed him again. "But I don't know you."

"But I know you. Your name is Haley and you live in Tree Hill and you're in first grade."

Her eyes widened. "How do you know that?" she spoke with awe.

"Because I am too."

Her brow wrinkled. "Your name can't be Haley; it's a girl's name."

Nathan laughed. "No, but I live in Tree Hill and I'm in first grade too."

"Oh." She squinted her eyes and stared at him again. "I might have seen you before."

"I'm Nathan."

"Hi Nathan," she smiled. Then she added, "Why are you at the beach without your bathing-suit?"

"I just walked from home."

"You live near to the beach?"

He turned around and pointed out his house. "Over there."

"You live on the beach!"

"Only for this weekend, and some other times. Otherwise we live in our normal house."

"I wish I had a house on the beach," she said wistfully.

"It's kind of boring," he shrugged.

"But you could make sandcastles everyday if you lived on the beach."

"I'm not good at making sandcastles. They always break."

"I could show you how. You wanna make one?" she asked.

"Er…okay." He got onto his knees, and she handed him her bucket, taking the shovel for herself, and the two got to work.

Suddenly she asked him, "Shouldn't you go tell your parents where you are?'

He shrugged. "They're at home. They don't even know I left."

"Why did you?" she asked kindly.

"Because I'm mad at them."

"Really?" The way she said it made it sound like the concept of being mad at parents was foreign to her.

"Don't you get mad at your parents?"

"My parents are always leaving, and when they're here they forget me, but I get sad, not angry."

"My mum always leaves too. She's only here now because…"

"Because what?"

Nathan realized he was on the verge of telling her that he was her best friend's half-brother; a fact that had completely slipped his mind as he hadn't thought of Lucas once since he and Haley had started talking. His 'plan' had suddenly become the last thing on his mind. But now, it all came back.

Nathan could tell that she actually didn't know who he was, especially in relation to Lucas, and he decided that he didn't want to tell her. Not because that would interfere with the plan, but because he had actually enjoyed talking and playing with her the last few minutes.

"Just because," he replied finally.

She smiled understandingly. They returned to building the sandcastle and a comfortable silence descended between them.

Over five minutes later, Nathan finished patting down his last tower and exclaimed, "It's finished!"

"Not yet."

"What else is there?"

"We have to fill the moat."

"The goat?" Nathan made a face.

Haley giggled. "No, silly, the moat." She pointed out the space she had dug out around the castle. "You fill it with water."

"Oh. But why?"

Haley wrinkled her nose; something she had picked up from Lucas. If Nathan had known that he probably wouldn't have thought it looked so cute. "I don't know. But it's in all the pictures I've seen of castles. I'll go get some water for it," she told him, and he handed her the bucket.

Nathan watched her walk towards the ocean, before directing his attention back to the sandcastle. He knew that it was mostly Haley's work, but he was still quite proud of himself for having helped to build one that didn't break. Soon, Haley was back, and Nathan stood up, intending to help her fill the moat, but her bucket was empty.

"Why didn't you get any water?"

She looked sad. "There's a whole in the bucket, and the castle is too far away from the sea so it keeps spilling out."

Nathan took the bucket from her and, upon examining it, found that there was a small hole at the bottom of the bucket. He looked to and from the sea, thinking, and then coming up with an idea. He walked towards the ocean, and Haley stared after him, wondering what he was doing. She watched him bend down and fill the bucket, just as he had done, but when he stood up again, he was holding it funny.

He walked all the way back, holding it like that, and when he finally reached Haley she could see that he had put one finger underneath the whole to prevent water from dripping out. He bent down and poured the water into the space Haley had dug as carefully as he could and it filled, just as it was supposed to.

Haley gasped as her visionary sandcastle was completed. She clapped her hands excitedly and turned to Nathan who was looking very proud of himself. Without thinking, she stood on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek.

The next moment both of them realized what she had just done, and stared wide-eyed at each other. Then, Haley turned around and ran in the other direction to where her parents were sitting.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

It was Monday morning and Brooke and Peyton were sitting under a tree outside the entrance to their school. Peyton was drawing one of her "weird drawings", as Brooke called them, but Brooke herself had nothing to do as they waited for school to start and this was starting to agitate her.

"Peyton," she whined.

"Yes?"

"I'm bored.

"You're always bored."

"Why can't we do something?"

"I am doing something," Peyton informed her.

"But I can't draw. I can't even colour inside the lines. Let's do something together!" Brooke pleaded.

Peyton finally looked up from her sketch pad. "School will start in ten minutes. What can we do together till then?"

"Talk!" Brooke said excitedly.

Peyton rolled her eyes.

"We can talk about Lucas"

"What about him?"

"You know Lucas, Nathan's brother. Or step-brother. Or half. Well, anyway, he's in our class with-"

"I know who he is, Brooke. Why do you wanna talk about him?"

"Don't you think he's cute?"

"Brooke!" Peyton exclaimed.

"What? He is! And he seems very sweet."

"Brooke, you don't…like him do you?" When Brooke didn't answer, Peyton's jaw dropped. "Brooke! We're only seven."

"So? You can like people however old you are. Don't you like anyone?" This time Peyton didn't answer, and Brooke's mind sprung into action. "P. Sawyer! You don't like Lucas do you?"

"What? No! I don't even know him!" Peyton replied quickly, even though the question immediately sparked comparisons in her mind between Nathan and Lucas.

"Okay, okay. Just checking. Come on," Brooke said as she observed more people arriving and filtering into school. "Let's go in."

Peyton nodded and put her sketch pad in her bag before getting up off the grass. She and Brooke were both silent as they walked towards the main entrance. What neither knew was that the other was thinking about Lucas.

* * *

Lucas himself was only just arriving at school, being dropped off by his mother. 

Karen smiled at him as he got down from the car, but he remained just as cold as he had been that weekend. "Have a good day at school, Lucas."

"Yeah, right," he muttered. Lucas felt bad when he saw that Karen looked hurt, but he just walked away, paying careful attention to his feet so he wouldn't have to see all the people looking at him.

"Hey, Luke!"

Lucas looked up and smiled. "Hey, Skills! Mouth." They jogged up to him and stood on either side of him, blocking out the stares.

"How are you doing, man?" Skills asked.

Lucas shrugged.

"It'll be okay," Mouth told him. "Everyone will forget about it soon."

Lucas snorted. "It doesn't look like it."

"Lucas?" a voice called from inside the school building.

"Mr. Durham?"

"Could you come into my office for a minute please?"

Mouth and Skills looked at Lucas. "We'll save you a seat."

Lucas nodded, and followed his teacher inside.

Mr. Durham led Lucas inside his small office, and then quietly shut the door behind them. Lucas sat down in the chair on the front side of the desk, while Mr. Durham went to sit on the chair behind it. Lucas liked Mr. Durham's chair because it turned when you sat in it; once Skills had been in the office, and when Mr. Durham had gone outside for a minute Skills had actually sat in it! But, Lucas was too scared to do that. Still, this chair was nice and comfy. But, it made him feel small.

Mr. Durham smiled at Lucas and at first he thought that he was going to ask him about his – urgh – dad. Mr. Durham had gone to school with him and Lucas' mum, but he'd been a bit older than them; he had been in the same class as Uncle Keith and they had been friends then, and still were now. But, whenever they talked, Uncle Keith always called him Whitey. Lucas didn't understand this. He thought that maybe it was because Mr. Durham was very pale in the face, but this seemed like a very rude nickname. Mouth was much better.

"Lucas?"

"Yes, Mr. Durham?"

"Keith told me that you're thinking of not playing basketball anymore; is that true?"

Lucas frowned. Not again.

Lucas sat in Mr. Durham's office and listened to Mr. Durham tell him why he shouldn't quit playing the game, and then left as soon as the bell rang to signal the beginning of school.

As Lucas was walking down the hallway, he caught sight of a friendly face, and smiled.

"Hey, Lukie," Haley smiled.

Lucas made a face. "I told you not to keep calling me that."

"How was your weekend?"

"Only better than the week because I wasn't at school."

"How can you not like school? Oh, right," Haley realized and answered her own question.

"How was your weekend?" Lucas asked.

Haley grinned. "Actually, it was pretty good."

"Oh yeah; what did you do?" As Lucas was completing his question, he saw someone walk by; someone he would much rather have not seen. However, as he averted his gaze he was shocked to see that Haley was not only still looking at this person, she was smiling at them – and they were smiling back!

Haley turned back to Lucas when the person had walked past them. "Sorry, what did you say?"

Lucas' jaw dropped.

"Lucas?"

"Why did you smile at him?"

"At Nathan? Why, what's wrong?"

Lucas stared at her for a few moments before he answered. "That's my brother."

"What did you say?"

"I said that was my brother," Lucas almost spat out the last word. "And I thought we were best friends."

"We are. I didn't know he was, Lucas –"

"So that makes it okay! You were fraternizing with the enemy!"

"You don't even know what that means!"

"Yeah, well I saw it on TV."

"Ooh, you're such a big boy, using big words that you don't understand! And it's 'you heard it on TV' not 'you saw it', silly!" Haley yelled back.

"How come you smiled at him?" Lucas demanded

"I met him on the beach yesterday and he knew me from school so he said hi."

"And you knew who he was and you still talked to him!"

"I didn't know he was your brother! You never told me his name; remember!"

"Well..." Lucas knew Haley had a point here. He didn't want to admit it, but he didn't know what else to say. Maybe he shouldn't be so mad at her.

"And Nathan was nice."

Now he was definitely mad. "Think about what Dan did to me and my mum, Haley."

"Exactly! What his dad did! Nathan never did anything to you, so I don't get why you are so mad at him! And why are you so mad at me?"

Lucas was about to answer – what he was going to say he wasn't sure, but he was definitely going to say something – when they heard a voice say, "Excuse me?"

Lucas and Haley both turned their heads and snapped, "What?"

Mr. Durham looked at them strangely. "Shouldn't you two be in class?"

Realizing that they were far more than just a little late for class, Lucas and Haley ran off to their lesson, which, unfortunately, they had together, so they proceed to ignore each other.

A/N: First if you're reading this, then please leave a review - even if it's only one word (I'm not that fussy)! Secondly, I made a banner for this fic, and I forgot to put the link up for this site. There are no spaces between the link; I just put the spaces in so it would show up.

http/ img158.imageshack.us /img158 / 9636 / 3storyouatbanner2za. jpg


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

It was break time, and Lucas was sitting by himself in the corner of the playground, absorbed in his book, as far away from Nathan and his friends as he could possibly be. He hadn't spoken to Haley since their argument that morning.

"Hi," Lucas heard a soft voice next to him.

Haley. Oh, well. He supposed he would accept her apology. But, he looked up and found that it wasn't Haley.

"Er, hi." He said to the girl standing in front of him. He remembered seeing her in school, but he didn't know her name.

"I'm Brooke."

"Hi. I'm L-"

"Lucas. I know."

"Okay." Lucas wasn't sure where this conversation was going.

Now she was standing there, Brooke had no idea what to say to him either. "So…I heard about you and Nathan being brothers."

Lucas made a face. "So that's why you're here."

"Well, yeah…"

"You know, I've really had enough of people making fun of me so –"

"No, that's not why I came! I just saw you sitting all alone over here and I thought you might like some company. I always hate being alone."

"Oh." What surprised Lucas the most was that she looked honest.

"If you like being alone I can go…"

"No, that's okay."

"What's okay?" Brooke asked, not sure what he saw saying.

"You don't have to go. I mean…I'd like it if you didn't."

Brooke smiled. Lucas thought this made her look like there were small holes in her cheeks, but in a pretty way.

He moved his bag so there was space for her and she sat next to him. They looked at each other nervously, and Brooke laughed at the awkwardness of the situation. Then, she spotted his book.

"Good book?"

"Yeah." He handed it to her and she flipped through.

She gave it back to him. "I only like books with big pictures."

Lucas laughed.

"Well! They're boring otherwise." Brooke joined in his laughter. She decided that he probably thought she was a little silly, but at least he didn't look so sad anymore.

"Lucas?"

"Oh hi Jake," he said to the messy brown-haired boy who had walked up to them. "Do you know Brooke?"

"Yeah. Hi Brooke."

"Hey," she smiled.

"So, Luke, I just came over, 'cause Skills said you were gonna stop playing basketball," Jake told them. "Is it true?"

"Maybe," Lucas shrugged.

"You're not gonna play anymore?" Brooke asked him, with a frown.

"I haven't decided yet."

"Well, it's up to you, Luke, but I think you should. You're really good; better than me. And once you get to know each other, maybe you and Nathan might become better friends."

"Ha! Yeah, right," Lucas muttered.

Jake shrugged. "It could happen."

Brooke nodded. "Men have walked on the moon, you know," she said wisely.

Lucas and Jake looked at her.

"What? They have! Neil Armstrong and Buzz Lightyear!"

Lucas and Jake both burst out laughing. "Not Buzz Lightyear," Jake told her.

Lucas put his hand over his mouth, trying to stop himself from laughing too hard. "He's from Toy Story."

"And he's made in Taiwan," Jake said between laughs.

* * *

Peyton had been searching for her best friend for the past five minutes. Brooke had gotten bored with her when Peyton had stated that she wanted to spend break time finishing the sketch she had started that morning. Brooke had said that she would go for a walk and come back soon, but she hadn't and now, Peyton was worried. She wasn't sure why since the only place for Brooke to go was the playground, but Brooke had a tendency to get into some sort of trouble and Peyton would rather she knew where she was.

Finally, at the back of the playground Peyton spotted Brooke, sitting on the ground with her legs stretched out in front of her. There was someone sitting next to her, and someone else standing in front of them, but Peyton couldn't make out either of Brooke's companions.

She walked closer and recognized the person standing as Jake. She liked his hair and he was nice to everyone, unlike Nathan and Tim and their friends. Once when they were walking out of school the wind had blown one of her drawings away, and he had caught it for her and said he'd never seen something drawn as good as that before. He'd said it so nicely that she couldn't tell him she thought that was wrong English.

Jake was laughing hard at something, and Brooke was looking a little – embarrassed? That wasn't like Brooke. However, from her position Peyton still couldn't see the person Brooke was sitting next to. She thought that she could go up to them and say hi, but she felt odd, like she'd be intruding on something. So she just stood in her hidden spot, watching them, and waiting. Until eventually Jake moved a little, and Peyton saw that the person sitting next to Brooke was Lucas.

* * *

Haley was also searching for someone. Unlike Peyton, she found her person a lot faster, but Haley was faced with the dilemma – not that she knew the word yet – of whether or not she should go up to him.

Nathan was sitting amongst his friends on another side of the playground. Most of the time they played sports during break, namely basketball, but the last few weeks had caused too much injury to spectators (since a lot of the boys still couldn't aim) as well as one broken window so their teacher had taken the ball away from them last Wednesday. Instead, the boys had discovered marbles and were happily playing the game.

Except Nathan. He thought marbles was boring, and was therefore part of the group watching the others play, rather than playing himself. He began looking around, and ended up spotting Haley standing on a side watching them; more specifically him. When she realized that he had seen her she gave him a half smile, but didn't move. Somehow Nathan found himself getting up and walking over to her.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi." Nathan felt nervous, and he didn't understand why. He looked back over his shoulder and saw that his friends hadn't noticed he had gone yet.

"I didn't know you were Lucas' brother," she said suddenly.

"Ok."

There was another uncomfortable pause before she asked him, "Did you know I was Lucas' friend?"

"Yes," Nathan admitted, somewhat guiltily.

He was surprised when Haley smiled at this. "I'm so glad you're okay with the whole thing with Lucas," she said, causing him to frown.

"I'm not okay with him. It's all his fault!" Nathan blurted out.

"What?" Haley stared at him, shocked. "Then why did you talk to me?"

Nathan paused. He couldn't tell her the truth. The both of them had been getting louder, and soon some of his friends would notice him being over here, and want to know what was going on. But, more than that, Nathan just didn't want to tell Haley 'cause she'd probably get mad. If she wasn't mad already. Plus, he was starting to feel bad about his original 'plan'. Yeah, he was still mad at Lucas, but that wasn't Haley's fault. And she was really nice to him. Finally, Nathan shrugged. "I don't know. I was bored."

"You two really are brothers!" Haley yelled at him, before she stormed off.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So I know not much actually happens in this chapter, but it's kind of important for later, and just the story in general. And there isn't any Naley, but I promise the next chapter will make up for it ;) Please review! **

**Chapter Five**

The next day, the last lesson that some of the children were having P.E. The teacher was taking register, but when he called out, "Lucas Scott," there was no answer. Tim and some of the other boys sniggered, but the teacher didn't hear. He continued taking register, and when he was done told them, "Okay, boys today we'll be playing basketball. I'll just get the balls from the balls from my office."

As soon as he walked out, Tim commented, "No wonder Lucas isn't here."

"He's just late," Jake said angrily.

Some of the others laughed, but not too loud. What surprised Jake the most was that Nathan wasn't saying anything. He didn't even seem to be paying attention to the conversation between everyone else; he was just staring at a wall, lost in his own world.

Just as the teacher was re-entering Lucas appeared through the main door. "Sorry, I'm late," he muttered.

"Don't let it happen again," the teacher warned.

Lucas nodded.

"Okay we're gonna divide into teams, guys."

As everything was getting sorted, Jake moved so he was standing next to Lucas and said, "Hi."

"Hey."

"Why were you late?"

Lucas shrugged. "The teacher was scolding us because half the class was being bad."

Jake smiled understandingly.

"Hey," a voice said.

Jake and Lucas turned and saw Nathan. Jake stares strangely at him. Lucas somehow manages to choke back a, "Hey."

"Jagielski! Get over here; you'll be captaining one of the teams."

Jake shared a looks with Lucas before he walked onto the court and towards their teacher.

Nathan and Lucas stood next to each other uncomfortably; acutely aware of some of the looks the other boys were giving them.

"So why did you say hi to me?" Lucas asked finally.

Nathan shrugged. "I don't know." In all honesty, he didn't. When Haley had shouted at him the day before, something had started in his head. He hadn't wanted to think of Lucas as his brother, of them being alike, but she had forced him to. And rather than seeing their similarities in their person, Nathan had seen the similarities in their situation. It was lot for a seven-year old to take in, but somewhere along the line Nathan had decided not to be mean to Lucas. It would just be easier for the both of them. And maybe Haley wouldn't be mad at him anymore either.

"Aren't you mad?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah. But more at my Dad really."

"Yeah," Lucas agreed. "I guess it's really his fault."

Nathan nodded. They caught each other's eye and for the first time shared an understanding. Things still weren't all okay. It would be a while before they were. But neither of them had actually done anything wrong. And they'd be living in the same town for a while. They may as well put up with each other.

"But, we're not brothers or anything," Nathan clarified.

"No," Lucas nodded fervently. "That would just be weird."

Jake, who was returning to them since stupid Tim had made a fuss to be captain instead of him, had heard these last two lines and smiled. Maybe someday.

* * *

Karen was behind the counter at her café, talking to Keith as business was slow this time of day.

"How are things with Lucas now?" he asked.

She frowned. "Better, I suppose. He's still somewhat upset. I can't really blame him, though," she admitted.

"Maybe I should talk to him again," Keith suggested.

Karen shook her head. "No, I should probably –"

Just then the door chime sounded and Karen lifted her head to see the new customer. What caused her to stop mid-sentence was the fact that her customer was none other than her ex-boyfriend's wife, Deborah Scott.

Karen just stared as Deb walked somewhat unsurely to the counter. Keith turned around to follow Karen's gaze and his eyebrows rose. "H-hey, Deb."

"Hi, Keith," she smiled at him, and then at Karen. "Hi. Could I get a cup of coffee, please?"

Karen simply nodded and went over to the coffee machine, trying to listen to Deb's conversation with Keith at the same time.

"So, how's Nathan?" Keith asked.

"Well, he's mad at me. Not that I can blame him for it, but I wish he'd talk about it instead of holing himself up in his room."

Karen came back from the machine with renewed interest. Maybe they weren't so different after all.

"Thank you," Deb said when she took and paid for the coffee. She said goodbye and headed out.

Keith glanced at Karen with an interested look on his face, but she ignored him and went to clear up a table. Keith went in the back to make a phone call so Karen was relatively alone two minutes later when Deb walked back in, half-drunk plastic coffee cup still in hand.

"Oh…hello," Karen said.

"Listen, Karen, I…Well, the truth is I know things are awkward right now, especially for you and Lucas," Deb told her, "but I hope that maybe you and I can get to know each other better. Dan's history doesn't have to be our history."

Karen looked at her understandingly and nodded. "Ok."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"Brooke?"

"Yes, best friend?" she replied.

"Where are we going?"

School was had just finished and Peyton and Brooke were walking down the halls. Brooke slowed down when she heard Peyton's question. "What do you mean where are we going? You don't wanna stay in school, do you?"

"But this isn't the way we walk out."

"You can walk out this way too," Brooke told her.

"Er…okay," Peyton said, mentally thinking that this route seemed longer and wondering why Brooke chose it. Her question was answered when they turned into the next corridor and Peyton saw the sign above a door saying 'Gym'.

"Brooke?" Peyton said again. "Why are we stopping?"

"Well, you see P. Sawyer, the thing is –"

"B. Davis!"

"I just wanna see Lucas before we leave!" Brooke exclaimed. "P.E. is his last period."

"Brooke!" Peyton whined. "I wanna go to the mall and get my CDs."

"And we'll do that, but I just wanna –" Before Brooke completed her sentence the door to the gym opened, and Jake and Lucas Scott himself both walked out.

"Hi," Brooke said excitedly to them.

"Hi," Lucas saw them and smiled.

"Hi Brooke. Peyton," Jake nodded.

"Hey," Peyton mumbled.

"How are you?" Brooke said to Lucas. She sounded casual, but there was more implied.

"Fine, thanks." Lucas didn't want to make a big deal of it in front of Jake and Peyton, but he appreciated the question. "So, Jake and I were gonna go down to the river court to play with Skills and some friends…um, do you wanna come?" he added quickly.

Brooke's face lit up and she began to say, "Ye-" before Peyton interrupted her.

"We were just about to go to the mall," Peyton reminded her.

"Oh, yeah…we have to go to the mall," Brooke repeated even though the boys had already heard Peyton.

"Um…" Peyton started when she saw the sad and disappointed look on Brooke's face. "You know, I just have to get this one CD; I could go on my own."

Brooke whipped her head around. "Peyt-"

"No, really. You can go to the river court; I'll meet up with you later."

Brooke smiled at Peyton, before turning back to Lucas. "There's something I want to get at the mall too. But, maybe I could come after?"

"Sure," Lucas nodded.

Jake and Lucas said goodbye, and Peyton waited until they were out of hearing distance to ask Brooke, "Why didn't you go with them? We were only going for my CDs."

"Because, P. Sawyer, friends always come before boys."

Peyton grinned, and the girls hugged before they left too.

* * *

Nathan stepped out of school wearing his backpack, but put it down as soon as he realized he'd be waiting a little while before he went home. His father was late, as usual Dan Scott Motors was more important than picking his son – well, one of his sons – up from school, and his mother was missing too; something else he had become accustomed to.

He looked around for some company and noticed Tim and some of the boys near a tree, with their backs to him, so he walked up to them. As he got closer to them, Nathan realized that the reason they were standing way over there was because they were picking on some kid. When he heard the whimper he felt a little sorry for the kid who probably didn't deserve to be kicked by all of them (which is what it looked like they were doing). However, when Nathan was standing behind Tim he looked through the space between Tim and the boy next to him he saw that they were kicking at the sandpit.

They were picking on Haley! And destroying her sandcastle! For fun! Without thinking, Nathan stepped beside them, and pulled Tim away roughly. The others stopped when they saw him.

"You wanna join?" one of the boys asked.

Nathan made a face. "No; stop it."

Tim rolled his eyes. "Why? Do you like her?"

The others sniggered.

Instinctively, Nathan's head turned to meet Haley's gaze. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Er…well…I…you don't have to be mean all the time," he stuttered.

Before anyone could react to Nathan's comment the sound of two parents calling for their children caught everyone's attention. Tim ran off because his dad was there and two of the other boys who were carpooling also left. Only Mike remained. Nathan looked at him, and Mike ran away from them. He wasn't going to stand up to Nathan Scott by himself.

Nathan turned to look at Haley. Clearly the boys had forgotten the question Tim had asked him; he just hoped Haley had too. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Haley sniffled, but nodded her head slightly. "Your friends are mean."

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you friends with them?"

Nathan shrugged. He didn't really know the answer. "They're not always like that."

"But they are sometimes," she said sadly.

Nathan wanted to change the subject so he asked her, "Do you need help with your sandcastle?" remembering how much he had enjoyed building that one at the beach.

Haley just shook her head. "It's ruined now."

Nathan looked at the sandpit and saw that part of the sandcastle had come down, but some pillars on the other side were still upright. "It's not ruined." Nathan knelt down and started patting down the sand near him to start repairing the castle.

Haley watched him for a bit, and then started to join in. As they built up the sandcastle, the same quiet, comfortable atmosphere came between them as had that day on the beach.

"Why are you still here?" she asked him, in the middle of building another tower.

"Huh?" he asked confused. He thought she didn't mind him being with her.

"Why are you still in school?"

"My mum's not here much, so it's my dad who has to come pick me up mostly and whenever it's him he gets late most days."

"My parents always get late," Haley empathized. "It's boring waiting for them alone."

"Well, I guess you and me don't have to wait alone anymore," Nathan said with a shy grin on his face.

Haley smiled back. Unfortunately they were soon disturbed by the sound of someone calling Nathan's name. Nathan looked up and saw his father in the distance. He hadn't spotted Nathan yet, but it was only a matter of time.

"I have to go," he said.

"It's okay."

"I'm sorry you have to wait alone now. I would wait for you, but my Dad–"

"Won't let you," Haley finished for him. "It's okay. It's not your fault. I think I'll be going home now anyway."

"Okay. Bye, then."

"Bye," Haley smiled at him.

Nathan stood up and was about to turn to walk away, but instead he came back, as if having changed his mind, took the remaining two steps towards Haley, bent down to kiss her cheek and then sprinted to Dan Scott as if his life depended on it.

Haley brought a hand up to touch her cheek as she shyly watched Nathan from afar until he drove away. Still basking in delight from her first kiss ever from a boy – even if it was on the cheek – who wasn't her father or brother, she checked the time on the clock outside the school. She realized that it was way past the cut-off point. If her parents hadn't picked her up by this time, it meant they had forgotten. Again.

Haley left the sandcastle and walked back into school, and to her favourite teacher's office. She knocked on the door once and when she heard him call, "Come in," she stood on her tip-toes to turn the handle and enter.

"Sir?" she said

He looked up from his desk and frowned when he saw her face. "Haley, your parent's didn't forget you again, did they?"

She nodded. "I think so, Mr. Durham."

He shook his head, and put a file away. "Come on then, Haley, I'll take you home," Mr. Durham said.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

One week later, Deb was heading to Karen's Café, as she had done many times recently; not to her husband's knowledge, of course. She entered the café just as Keith was leaving.

"See you Deb, I have to go to the auto shop," he informed her.

"Have a good day." Deb sat down at the counter and Karen placed a cup of coffee in front of her. "That was efficient."

Karen smiled. "It's what you've ordered every time you've come here."

"Well, no one can say this place has bad service."

"So how are things at the foundation?" Karen asked.

"Same as always," Deb said, "but, actually, the reason I'm here today is to ask you a favour."

"A favour?" Karen wondered what she could possibly do for Deborah Scott.

"There's a school trip tomorrow –"

"To the gardens, right? Lucas told me."

"Yes, well, the thing is one of the parent chaperones had to drop out at the last minute and no one is free."

"And you want me to chaperone?"

"I was hoping." Deb asked, "Isn't there anyone who can take over for you for a little while? We'll be back in school in the afternoon."

"Well…" Karen could get one of the girls to take over for her. That wasn't the reason why she was so reluctant. "I'm not sure."

"Karen, please. There really is no one else, unless I ask Dan to come along; not that he'll want to, but more importantly, I don't want him to!" Deb said it like it was a joke, but Karen could tell she was serious.

"Deb…there'll be other parents there too, right? And –"

"And they'll be talking about Dan? About Nathan and Lucas? About us?"

Not that Karen had ever liked the saying, but Deb had definitely hit the nail on the head. She nodded.

"That's a reason why I didn't want to go first either. But, look at it this way, Karen. If we're both there together, then what can they say?"

Deb did have a point. "It's over by four?" Karen asked finally.

Deb smiled. "You'll be safe back at the café long before that."

* * *

Mr. Durham, known as Whitey to his friends, was currently taking register as the first grade class piled onto the school bus. As the last child climbed on board, he went over the list once again and was surprised to find that one person was still yet to arrive. This wasn't especially surprising in itself, as he had expected someone to be late, it was the person who was late that surprised him.

Suddenly, Haley appeared out of nowhere, running fast and panting as her little body tried to catch her breath. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Durham," She said, still panting, "my mummy wouldn't wake up to drive me till really late and –"

"It's alright, Haley."

Haley looked at him. He didn't look like it was alright. He looked a little annoyed. She just didn't know was that it was at her parents and not at her.

"I'm sorry," she repeated.

"It's fine, Haley." Mr. Durham ticked her name off the register. "Why don't you get on the bus?"

Not wanting to make him angrier, she quickly complied. She looked down the rows for Lucas, but soon spotted him near the front sitting next to a smiling brunette. They were busy in conversation so Lucas didn't even notice Haley. She walked past them, looking for an empty row, but she couldn't find any, and in all the seats where there was only one person sitting, they moved their bag so Haley couldn't sit. As she neared the back of the bus, Haley sorrowfully wondered whether she'd have to spend the bus journey standing or – even worse, sitting up front with the teachers. She didn't mind because there was a nice view, but everyone would make fun of her.

Just then a girl with curly blond hair moved her bag down from the seat so there was space for one more. Haley looked at her hesitantly.

"Are you gonna sit or what?"

Despite the girl's sharp tone, Haley smiled happily and sat down. "I'm Haley."

"Peyton," the blond replied, sinking back into her chair and staring out the window, signaling the abrupt end of the conversation.

Haley put her bag down underneath her seat and looked around. She discovered that the seat across from her was being occupied by none other than Nathan. Unfortunately, he was sitting next to the window and on the seat closer to Haley was one of his mean friends. Haley thought his name was Tim, but it might have been Dim. Haley didn't think that was a name, but they called him that a lot.

Haley kept looking in that direction, trying to catch Nathan's eye, and finally he did look up. He smiled at her, and she smiled back, but one second later Tim tugged on his sleeve.

"What?" Nathan asked.

"Are you playing or what? It's your turn."

"I'm playing; just give me a second."

"To do what?" Tim wondered, he started to look up, but Nathan pulled him back down before Tim could turn his head fully and see who was sitting opposite them.

"Let's just play," Nathan told him and kept his eyes trained on the game boy the rest of the journey there.

**A/N: We are coming towards the end of this story. There going to be three more chapters, plus an epilogue if ya'll really want one. You can tell me in your reviews! The more reviews I get, the faster I'll post the next chapter! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

The first grade trip to the botanical gardens had gone off well in the adult's minds. No one had disobeyed them as yet or stepped on any exotic plants (although at one point Tim had come close to doing so). In the minds of the children…their views were a little more varied. Some had enjoyed it; others had thought it sucked, while Haley felt a mixture of both.

As soon as they had got down from the bus Mr. Durham had announced that they had to get into pairs so that people didn't get lost. Haley had looked for Lucas to pair up, but he had decided to pair with the brunette again. It was a good thing that she and Lucas had patched things up last week or she would have thought he was still mad at her. Fortunately for Haley it turned out that the brunette, whose name was Brooke, was friends with Peyton, who was then also left without a partner.

Haley and Peyton had thus become a pair and soon discovered that they had a lot in common, especially listening to old music with their Dads. They had liked looking at the different plants, and Peyton had wanted to draw everything. She had even drawn a quick sketch of Haley from the side when they were watching a slide show, and Haley had decided that Peyton drew even better than the man who drew Snoopy.

However, as happy as she was that she had made a new friend, Haley couldn't help the feeling that Nathan was trying to avoid her gaze. As much as she tried to tell herself that she was over-reacting, throughout their trip Haley kept on getting the feeling that someone was looking at her. When she turned around, Nathan was always nearby but staring intently at some plant or tree, and the feeling had gone.

Finally, it was time for the kids to have a snack before they went back to school. After a morning of talking, rather than looking at much nature, Lucas and Brooke made their way to the area where the teachers and parents had laid blankets on the grass for the children to sit on. As they were walking, they saw Nathan and Tim standing a few steps in front of them staring at something in the distance. Brooke thought that Lucas might like to go around them to avoid Nathan, but surprisingly Lucas moved towards Nathan and followed his gaze.

Lucas saw that Nathan was watching their mothers seated next to each other on a table with the other grown-ups, and they were talking animatedly. Lucas thought that it should feel odd seeing his mother acting so friendly with Nathan's mother, but it didn't; it looked…somewhat natural. Nathan turned around to look at Lucas, and they both raised their eyebrows at each other, before going in their different directions.

Brooke and Lucas soon found the blanket Peyton and Haley were sitting on. Lucas was slightly afraid that Haley would be mad at him for not partnering with her, but she and Peyton seemed to have got on well. When Haley saw Lucas she smiled at him and patted down the place next to her for him to sit, so he knew that they were fine.

As he was sitting down Lucas saw Jake walking on his own, and called out to him. "Hey, Jake? Wanna sit with us?"

Jake nodded, and jogged over to them to fill up the remaining space, between Brooke and Peyton.

"Where's your partner?" Peyton asked.

"My friend Brian was sick so he couldn't come and I got paired with Harold."

Haley and Lucas both made a face, but Peyton and Brooke were confused. "Who's Harold?" Brooke wondered.

"The guy who sits on top of the monkey bars during break every day," Haley explained.

Peyton's eyes widened. "The guy who eats food people drop on the floor?"

"That's Harold," Lucas told them.

"Ew!" Brooke exclaimed. "You poor thing." She patted Jake's hand sympathetically, and Lucas felt oddly jealous.

Just then, two adults came with plastic plates and a container of food for the children, and everyone started eating.

"What's this?" Peyton sniffed her sandwich.

Haley and Brooke had already bitten into theirs. "I don't know, but it's really good," Haley said.

Jake shook his head. "The sandwich tastes funny. The muffin tastes better."

"I'll have your sandwich then," Brooke offered.

At the end of the snack, Jake, Lucas and Peyton got up to clear the plates while Brooke and Haley both lay down on the blanket, stuffed from having shared (without exaggeration) three-quarters of the others' food between the two of them.

"This is nice," Haley commented.

"Being so full you can't move?"

Haley giggled. "No. Lying down in the grass; looking at the trees and the sky. The gardens are really pretty."

"I didn't see them properly," Brooke admitted.

"How come?"

"I was talking to Lucas," she said with a blush.

Haley laughed, but didn't say anything.

"Peyton thinks we're too young to like boys," Brooke said suddenly.

Haley looked at her. "I don't think so…"

"Why; who do you like?" Brooke asked.

Haley's face turned bright red, so she looked the other way. Before Brooke could prod her for more information, she noticed a boy walking their way. Haley saw it was Nathan and quickly sat up. "Hi."

When he saw her he smiled. "Hey."

"So…how do you like the trip?"

"It's okay. Kind of boring sometimes."

Still lying down, Brooke watched them silently, a grin spreading on her face. Looks like she wouldn't have to ask Haley after all! She was eagerly awaiting more when a group of boys appeared on the scene.

"Hey, Nate!"

"Hey, look, its Nathan's girlfriend." Mike recognized Haley from the previous week.

Haley blushed, and Nathan stuttered, "She's n-not my girlfriend."

"So you don't like her?" Tim asked.

"No."

"But you're talking to a girl!" One boy squealed.

At this, Brooke sat up. "What's wrong with talking to a girl?" she demanded.

"Girls! Ew!" the boy replied.

"Cooties!" another chipped in, causing Brooke to roll her eyes.

Nathan was starting to get really uncomfortable and wanted to get away as soon as possible. "Look, let's just go. I was only talking to her to be nice."

The frown on Haley's face dissolved, and now she just looked blank. She slowly got up and walked away from them without a word, in direction of where Lucas, Peyton and Jake had gone.

Tim laughed. "She must have thought you liked her because you didn't met us break her sandcastle. Stupid girl."

"You're stupid," Brooke told him. She got to her feet and pushed Tim so that he fell backwards onto the grass. All the other boys took a few steps back, wary of catching cooties. Brooke glared at Nathan before following Haley.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

The first grade class trip had ended without much excitement, and by three o'clock they had returned to school. Yet, despite the fact that his mother had been a chaperone on the trip, Nathan had still not left school. He was with Tim and Mike and bored out of his mind as they were playing marbles while he sat next to them wondering what was taking his mother so long. On top of that he was worried about Haley. He felt kind of bad about saying that, especially because it wasn't true, but what else could he have done in front of everybody?

"Do you wanna play?" Mike asked, interrupting Nathan's thoughts.

He shook his head. "I don't feel like it."

Tim looked up from the game. "What's the matter? You thinking about that girl?"

Mike sniggered.

"Shut up," Nathan snapped.

"Gee, you don't have to get so mad."

"Yeah," Tim agreed. "Unless you really do like her," he added with a cheeky grin.

"So what if I do?" Nathan blurted out angrily.

Mike gasped, while Tim dropped the marble in his hand. "What did you just say?"

Nathan stared at them for minute, only just realizing himself. Then he stood up and marched off without replying.

"Where do you think he's going?"

Before Tim could answer Mike, his name was called so he turned around.

"Who's that?" Mike asked.

"Nathan's Mum."

"Hello, Tim," Deb said, having reached them.

"Hello, Mrs. Scott."

"Do you know where Nathan is?"

"He was here, but he ran that way," Tim pointed the direction to her, "'cause he got mad at us."

"Oh? What was he angry about?" Deb asked, worried that he was upset she took so long.

Tim shrugged sheepishly. "We made fun of the girl he liked."

Deb's expression now mirrored that of Tim's and Mike's when Nathan had let it slip. "Oh."

* * *

Haley was sitting on the green field just outside school. Peyton's dad had picked up Peyton and Brooke, Jake's parents had taken him home, and Karen and Lucas had left just a few minutes ago. So, for all the new friends she had made, she was sadly very alone.

After she had left the blanket, Brooke had followed her, but not mentioned the incident except for giving her a brief hug, which Haley had very grateful for. They had realized that since there was five of them, one would have to sit alone on the bus ride back. Jake had done that on the journey to the gardens so they all agreed that it shouldn't be him the second time around. However, no one wanted to sit by themselves either. In the end, Lucas had come up with the idea that they'd all get on the bus first so they could sit right at the back, where the row was really long; just enough for five to sit comfortably.

When the rest of the class had got on after them, Haley saw Nathan come in and walk towards the back. But she looked down at her trainers as soon as he looked at her. Because of that she hadn't noticed that Brooke had glared at him again, and Peyton had observed this, although Lucas and Jake hadn't. After that, the bus ride had been fun, but sitting alone here now wasn't. The sandbox was nearby, but had lost its appeal.

Haley saw a pair of legs coming towards her, and for a moment, she was extremely happy thinking that one of her parents was actually there to take her home. She looked up with a huge smile on her face, but it fell as soon as she saw the person standing there was Nathan.

She looked away from him, but he still took a few more steps towards her until he was standing right next to her, making it much harder to ignore him.

"Hi," he said finally.

"You don't have to try to be nice to me Nathan. And, if you're just bored, well, I really don't care."

"I'm sorry."

This time, she looked at him, but not pleasantly. "You say that a lot."

"I know, but…"

"But what?"

"I'm just…I'm not used to having to be nice. My Dad doesn't care what I do as long as I can play basketball good when I'm bigger. And my Mum isn't here a lot anyway."

Haley felt a little sorry for him, but she was still upset. And hurt. In the end, she said, "You mean, you play basketball 'well', not 'good'."

"Oh," Nathan looked down. He had expected at least a little more from her. "I guess I'm just dumb," he said bitterly.

"You're not dumb," she replied immediately, and gave him a small smile, because she hadn't meant that at all and she didn't want him to think she did. "But what you said about your parents isn't an excuse to be mean."

"I know that. And I don't want to be like that."

"Well...what do you want to be like?" Haley asked.

"I dunno…maybe like you."

"Why would you wanna do that when I embarrass you?"

"You don't embarrass me," Nathan said genuinely. "They're just a little…well, they don't matter."

Haley saw that he was being honest and smiled a little more before looking back at her lap. "Well…you can't be like me." At Nathan's confused look she added, teasingly, "No one can be like me."

Nathan laughed. That was probably true. "I just want to be…better. And someone who you'd be friends with maybe."

Haley looked at him shyly. "Maybe."

Nathan smiled at her happily, causing Haley to look away, but she did move her bag from where it was on the grass next to her, to put it in front of them. Nathan took this as a sign to sit down. As he lowered himself onto the grass, his right hand accidentally came on top of her left, and they both jerked their hands away quickly.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"It's okay."

They sat silently for a few moments, not knowing what to say. Nathan glanced at her, and saw her gaze was intently fixed on the tree straight ahead of them. Slowly, he purposely put his hand over hers again.

Haley had been about to ask him if he wanted to play in the sandbox, but as soon as she felt his hand she turned her head to look at him. Now, he was staring at the tree, making no move to take his hand off hers. It felt…kind of weird. But not a bad weird.

The silence continued, but it felt better now; more peaceful than quiet. Nathan was the first one to interrupt, asking her a question that had been on his mind since he had come up to her. "Friends?"

She smiled. "Friends."

Nathan grinned back. Remembering something, he leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

Haley blushed and giggled slightly, but neither made any move to run away. Somehow she found herself kissing his cheek back.

Smiling, Nathan moved to kiss her cheek again, but Haley had turned her head at the same time and his mouth collided with hers.

They kissed for a whole two seconds, before pulling away simultaneously and stared at each other. Then they both ran away.

Deb had spent the last ten minutes looking for her son, and she was on the brink of getting seriously worried. Since finding Tim she had been given a direction to her search, but she had soon found that there were many places on the school grounds he could have walked to. Just as she was about to try a new place, a short figure came barreling at her. As they were running without looking where they were going, the figure ended up colliding with Deb, their head hitting her stomach, before they fell onto the ground, landing on their back.

"Hi Mum."

"Nathan? What are you doing?" Deb asked, both relieved and concerned, as she helped him stand up.

"Um…I was looking for you."

"Well, we should get going. Everyone has gone home."

Before he could stop himself, Nathan added, "Not everyone."

"I saw Tim and that other boy leave earlier. Who else is here?"

"Oh…just one of my friends."

"When is his mother coming?"

"I don't know."

"Well, let's check up on him." Deb immediately strode in the direction Nathan had come from; leaving Nathan no time to tell his mother his friend was a 'she'. Deb soon found out for herself, however, when a short walk later she saw a girl picking up a bag from the ground.

Haley blushed as soon as she saw Nathan and his mother. She hadn't intended to come back to that spot until, soon after she had started running away, she realized she had left her bag there, and had returned to get it.

Deb and Nathan were a few steps away from her. Deb looked down at Nathan and asked, "Is this your friend?" in the back of her mind, remembering Tim's comment.

He nodded, keeping his gaze firmly on his feet. "This is Haley."

Deb knelt down and smiled at her. "Hi Haley, I'm Nathan's Mum."

"I know. I saw you on the trip with Lucas' Mum," she told her.

"Aren't your parents coming to pick you up?"

"They're supposed to, but sometimes they forget."

"They forget?"

Haley nodded. "But it's okay. Whenever they forget Mr. Durham takes me home 'cause he lives near by me."

"Oh. Well, if you want, we can drop you home," Deb offered

"You don't have to..."

"It's fine. Isn't it Nathan?"

Nathan nodded.

Haley smiled. "Thanks. I'll just go tell Mr. Durham."

As Haley walked into the school building, Deb looked down at her son. "She seems nice."

"She is."

"How does she know Lucas?"

"She's his friend too," Nathan said.

Deb smiled. She had worried that Lucas and Nathan wouldn't be able to accept each other, like she and Karen were learning to do. Maybe with the help of that little girl, that wouldn't be the case.

Haley came back soon, and slung her bag over her shoulder, carrying two books in her hand, before they all made their way to Deb's car.

"I'll carry that," Nathan told her.

She smiled at him as he took the books from her hand. "Thank you."

Against his will, Nathan looked up because he felt like Deb was looking at him. She had a grin on her face that Nathan found very annoying. When they got to the car, Nathan moved to let Haley get in first. Deb smiled at him again, this time raising her eyebrows. Instantly, he realized that she knew, causing Nathan to blush.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Dan Scott returned home that night with a smug smile on his face having had a good day at work, selling fancy cars that were just a little over-priced. Setting his briefcase down and taking off his jacket, Dan walked into the kitchen to see his wife preparing dinner. She turned around when she heard him come in and gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Hello."

"Hello, Deb. Where's Nathan?"

"He's out playing basketball with his friends."

"Well, why doesn't he play here? What's the point of having a basketball court if he doesn't use it?" Dan questioned.

"You use it, Dan. And his friends wanted to play at the river court." Deb turned away from him to get back to the microwave.

Dan still wasn't satisfied. "Which of his friends would rather play there than here?"

Deb was glad Dan couldn't see her face at that moment because she was smiling as she said, "Lucas."

Dan practically choked. "What?"

"I said Lucas," Deb answered with more composure.

"Nathan and Lucas aren't friends," Dan said with absolute certainty.

"Not very much, but they have friends in common and I think they're getting to know each other better."

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Deb!" Dan yelled.

"Don't shout at me, Dan! I had nothing to do with it."

"But you sure as hell aren't going to put a stop to it, are you?"

"Of course not. I think it'll be good for Nathan to get to know his brother. And Karen is a very nice lady."

"What? You've never met her!"

"On the contrary, Dan, she was chaperoning on today's trip as well," Deb said, deliberately 'forgetting' to mention that they had been meeting for a week prior. "She's a very nice lady. She and I are having lunch with Keith next week. I would invite you, but…well, I just don't want to. And I'm sure Keith and Karen are much happier without you in their life."

Still reeling from the blows of this conversation, Dan struggled to find a cutting comment to hit Deb back with. "Are you even going to be here next week?"

Deb made sure she was looking Dan straight in the eye when she replied. "Actually, I am. I've been worried about Nathan and our situation here so I'm cutting back hours at the foundation. And no more away trips until he's much older." Then, as if she hadn't just torn his whole world down Deb reached to get something from a cupboard and said, "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes."

Dan had a feeling he wouldn't be smiling anytime soon.

* * *

At the river court, Brooke, Peyton and Mouth were sitting on the side and watching Nathan, Skills, Tim, Fergie and some of the other boys play basketball. Peyton was having a good time watching Mouth talk about the game as they played. She thought it was really funny the way he held that piece of his paper and pretended it was a microphone, but he was enjoying himself so she thought it would be rude if she laughed. She looked over at Brooke who appeared immersed in the game before her, but Peyton knew that Brooke was waiting for Lucas to come.

Skills scored a basket and Junk cheered loudly. Lucas' friend Junk was also sitting with them, as the teams would be uneven if he played too. Peyton thought that Lucas' friends all had weird names. Fergie was the only normal sounding one, but even that sounded like a girl's name.

"What time is it?" Brooke whispered to Peyton.

Peyton held out her new watch that her Dad had bought her from one of his trips for Brooke to see. Brooke nodded and turned away, as Jake walked off the court and told Junk that he could take his place.

"You're not playing?" Peyton asked.

"I have to go home," Jake told her.

"Your parents make you go home so early?" Peyton wondered.

Jake shook his head as he sat down next to her and took a sip of water from the water bottle. "Not usually. It's just that they're going out and they want me to baby-sit my sister."

"How old is she?"

"Almost 2."

"2? That's so little," Peyton said.

"Yeah. But Hilary's really sweet. And she doesn't cry a lot."

"You must be a really nice big brother," Peyton said a little teasingly and nudged his shoulder, causing Jake to blush.

"I guess you'll have to ask Hilary."

"She can talk already?"

"Just a couple of words; not sentences or anything. But, I meant when she's older."

"Oh." It was Peyton's turn to blush. "I knew that."

Jake turned his head and saw a car parked just ahead of them. "My Dad's here now. I should go."

"Okay. Hey, do you want some company?" she said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Uh, I mean…" What did she mean? "You'll be alone when you're babysitting Hilary right?"

"Well my parents told our neighbours to drop in a little, but mostly, yeah. Why?"

"Um…if you need help babysitting I could come," Peyton offered. "Or if you just want company."

"That would be nice. My parents won't mind."

"Okay." Peyton got up and waved bye to Brooke, who gave Peyton a look as she followed Jake to his parent's car.

Their exit was followed less than two minutes later by Haley and Lucas' arrival.

"Hi," Brooke and Mouth said simultaneously.

"Hi," Lucas said.

"Hey," Haley smiled at both of them. She sat down next to Brooke on the bleachers before turning to watch the boys, especially Nathan, play.

Lucas walked onto the side of the court and motioned to Skills. "Can I join?"

"Sure," he replied with no hesitation.

"But then we'll be uneven," Tim reminded them.

The boys all looked around, but no one was particularly willing to give up their spot. Lucas was about to say he'd wait until the next game and join Mouth and the girls on the bleachers when Nathan tossed him the ball. "You can play instead of me," he told him.

Lucas stared at him, surprised, but Nathan just jogged past them to the grass.

"That means you're on my team," Fergie said and they began to reassemble to restart the game.

Nathan grinned at Haley as he walked up the bleachers and took a seat right next to her. "Hey."

Involuntarily, she blushed. "Hey."

As the boys played, and Mouth explained to a much more animated Brooke how sports commentating worked no one noticed Haley sliding a little closer to Nathan on the bench, and Nathan's hand finding hers.

**A/N: That's the end…almost! Only the epilogue is left. I've written about half of it already, so as soon as it's finished I'll post it.**


	11. Chapter 11: Epilogue Part 1

**A/N: It's not the end:) I know I said it was going to be but as I've been writing this epilogue it's turned out longer than I expected and as most of you requested that I not end it yet, what I've done is split the epilogue into parts so there will be about two more updates after this.**

**A/N 2: **The format of the epilogue is that each part focuses on what happened to a couple after we left them in the last chapter, first through Haley's thoughts and then through a flashback. This first part is about Brucas, and it's for **lucasscottlover1** who wanted more Lucas.

**Chapter Eleven**

**Epilogue Part 1**

_11 years later…_

Haley looked at the people sitting around her and smiled. Actually, she had been smiling ever since she had woken up and was still wondering when Brooke would call her on it. Despite their differences, she and Brooke had become best friends since that day on their first grade trip when Brooke had stood up for Haley. It was a strange mix since Brooke was extremely outgoing and Haley liked to keep mostly to herself, but even through high school when Tigger joined the cheerleading squad and Tutor-girl had started…well, tutoring, they stayed close. Their friendship had ended up putting Haley in a lot of awkward positions when Brooke had started a relationship with Haley's other best friend, Lucas.

In junior high Lucas and Brooke had started dating, but Brooke, maintaining that she wanted to keep her options open, would only date non-exclusively. Lucas had given in despite his immense jealousy whenever she dated other guys and had for the most part been a pretty good sport, but when they became sophomores in high school he had had enough and gave Brooke an ultimatum. Either they were exclusive or they were over. Much to Lucas' dismay, Brooke had taken the easy way out and ended the relationship. Lucas had been further hurt when only a few weeks later Brooke had hooked up with new student Felix. Haley had continually tried to get Lucas and Brooke back together, as had Nathan (after being forced by Haley to help), but to no avail and Lucas had 'moved on' as well. Of course, they all knew better.

_**

* * *

**__**Flashback:**_

"Goodnight baby," Rachel sing-songed over the phone.

Lucas did his best not to cringe at her sugary voice, even though she couldn't see him. "Goodnight, Rachel," he replied before hanging up.

Rachel was his girlfriend of the past two months. She was fun and there was no doubt she was hot and _unlike some people_ when she dated someone she wasn't interested in going out with other guys at the same time, but Lucas could finally admit to himself that he wasn't attracted to her. He wouldn't admit why he didn't like her – because that would just lead to a whole other arena of heartbreak that he didn't want to return to – but he didn't like her and he knew it was way past time to break up with her. Summer was nearly over and senior year would be starting in two days time and he figured it would be better to break up with her before that.

The sound of a small bump outside his room door interrupted Lucas' thoughts. At first he thought he may have imagined it since there wasn't a second knock on the door. However, it was soon followed by the sound of something hitting the wood outside and the bushes rustling. Lucas quickly got up off his bed and went outside, not noticing the small box that had been placed outside his door. His attention was captured by the foot that was stuck in his railing.

"Are you okay?" he called to the person he couldn't see since their body was covered by the bushes.

"Mmhmm."

"Hang on a second, I've got you." He carefully managed to get the foot from out of the railing, but was trying to gently lower the leg down so the person in the bush didn't suddenly fall and hurt themselves. As he was holding on their ankle the bottom of their jeans started to rise and their sock was revealed to him. "Brooke!" he exclaimed and dropped her leg like a hot potato.

"Ow!"

"Oh god! I'm sorry." He quickly ran down into the garden and saw his ex-girlfriend rubbing her head and trying to sit up properly. "I'm sorry," he repeated.

"It's okay. How did you know it was me?" she asked as he sat down on the grass beside her.

"You're wearing your hot pink 'Hello Kitty' socks."

"Oh."

"So, um…what are you doing here Brooke?"

She quickly looked away. "Um, nothing."

"Brooke your foot got caught in my railing which means you would have walked up there, so…did you knock on my door?"

"No! Lucas, I wasn't coming to see you," she told him truthfully. "I'm just gonna go." She tried to stand up, but then felt a throbbing pain when she tried to put her weight on the foot that had got caught in the railing.

Noticing Brooke's imbalance Lucas immediately went to help her stand up. Placing her arm on his shoulder so he was supporting her, he said, "There should be some ice inside."

"N-no, it's okay. I can go home."

"Brooke you can barely stand on your own. Now come inside." Without allowing her room for argument Lucas helped her hobble back up the steps. On their way there he observed the box that had past his attention on his way out.

"What?" she asked him, noticing him craning his head to the side.

He just shook his head without answering and took her inside. He sat her down on the bed before going to the kitchen to get an ice pack. Upon returning he found Brooke waiting for him, uncomfortably glancing around the room. "Here you go."

"Thanks," she said softly and positioned it on her ankle. Brooke saw Lucas walk to his back door but, thinking he was just going to close it, didn't think anything of it.

However, he went outside and picked up the box that was there. He lifted the lid and found it was full of letters, far more than fifty of them, and they were all addressed to him. He took the first one out and recognized the handwriting. "Brooke," he realized.

"Yes?" she called.

He looked up suddenly, not realizing he had said her name out loud. He walked back inside, holding the box in his hands. "Did you keep this here?"

Brooke slowly nodded, realizing he already knew they were from her anyway.

Lucas stayed silent for a while, thoughts whirling through his head. Then, he finally asked, "How many letters are there here?"

"82.I-I wrote them all this summer. One a day."

"Where you ever gonna give them to me?"

"I just did, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but you came here to leave these outside and then run away. Why?"

"I should probably just go," she replied, and tried to stand up.

"And run away again?" Lucas was getting angry. "That's all you ever do with us."

"What do you want from me Lucas?" Brooke practically yelled.

"I want you to stop being a coward and tell me the truth!"

"Lucas, I'm sorry I hurt you, alright? I was just scared!"

"Of what?" he yelled back.

"Of you! And us! And…the way I feel about you." Now, her anger was gone, and all Brooke felt was sadness. "I shouldn't have expected you to wait around for me forever. It wouldn't have been fair to you. You have Rachel now, and you guys can be happy together. And if she's not the one then I hope you find a great girl this year or when you go to college. But just know that no matter who I was with, I always loved you."

The pain in her ankle was lessened now, and all the feeling gone out of her after her outburst. She stood up and managed to waddle on her own to the door.

"She's not the one."

"Huh?" Brooke turned around at Lucas' quiet admission.

"Rachel. She's not the one."

"Okay…"

"You are." And with that, Lucas dropped the box in his hands and kissed her.

_**End Flashback**_


	12. Chapter 12: Epilogue Part 2

**A/N: This continues straight on from last chapter when the flashback ended and is about Jeyton.**

**Chapter Twelve**

**Epilogue Part 2**

Looking at Peyton and the little girl sitting in her lap, Haley reflected that her other friends' lives had been no less lacking in drama either. As they started to grow older, Brooke and Peyton had remained friends but had drifted apart from how close they had been as kids. Brooke hadn't known why at the time, but after much pushing by Haley to get the two closer again Peyton confided in her that she too had feelings for Lucas. A combination of resentment and jealousy had kept Peyton from staying best friends with Brooke but she soon found a new best friend in Jake. Jake's relaxed personality had turned out to perfectly complement Peyton's moody one. Peyton's mum had died in a car accident when they were ten and he had been her strength through the whole ordeal. Jake then took up Brooke's position in Peyton's life – aside for the girly stuff which Peyton shared with Haley, and sometimes Brooke too – and he became the one person who could honestly say they knew everything about Peyton Sawyer, including her life-long crush on Lucas Scott. Peyton had thought that she knew everything about Jake too, but there was one thing that she didn't.

Jake had a secret that only Haley knew for a while, which he had told her one night in junior high when they had been commiserating together about their love lives, or lack thereof. He had fallen in love with Peyton, but she was too infatuated with Lucas to see Jake as anything other than her buddy. As they grew older, Jake took to having casual relationships with a number of women. Enter Nikki.

Nikki or 'crazy psycho bitch' as Brooke termed her was a college student at Tree Hill University whom Jake had met at a party and got involved with on a somewhat more serious level than he had with most of his previous girlfriends. He just hadn't realized how serious. Nikki got pregnant and 9 months later little Jenny Jagielski was born. Less than a month after that Nikki had disappeared.

Even with his parent's support Jake was still struggling to balance life as a teenager and taking care of his daughter at the same time. Peyton came to his rescue, helping to take care of Jenny so Jake didn't have to drop out of school. At this time, Lucas and Brooke still weren't back together, but Peyton's crush on Lucas had fizzled out, as she realized the hard way that he only had eyes for Brooke. She ended up spending even more time with Jake now that she was helping him with Jenny, and her feelings for him had slowly developed.

When Jenny was about 6 months old Nikki had returned demanding custody, but the fact that she had already abandoned her daughter once meant the judge ruled in Jake's favour. When Nikki tried to take Jenny anyway, Peyton had come to the rescue once again.

_**Flashback:**_

Peyton tentatively knocked on the door to Jake's bedroom. When she heard him softly call, "Come in," she entered and saw him sitting on the edge of his bed, watching over Jenny, trying to make her stop crying.

"Hey."

"Hi." Peyton walked over to him and sat down near where he was sitting. "So…I'm sorry about today."

Jake was confused. "Sorry about what?"

"Everything with Nikki. And her almost taking Jenny."

"Hey, that's not your fault."

"But the part where I jumped her and ended up getting arrested for assault kind of was."

Jake couldn't help but smile. "I wish I had seen that. Lucas and Nathan said it took the both of them to pry you off of her."

"Well, yeah, I mean we stopped her taking Jenny, but I wasn't gonna let her get away with it that easy," Peyton said. Jake nodded and looked back at Jenny, lying in her crib. She wasn't crying as loudly now, but she was still struggling. "So…what are you gonna do about Nikki?"

"Well, I talked to my lawyer. He said we should get a restraining order on her."

"You think that'll work?"

"As long as you're enforcing it."

Peyton smiled, but didn't reply immediately. The silence created tension in the room, something that seemed to be happening a lot between them lately. It was little things like when they were feeding Jenny and his arm brushed against hers. Or how they couldn't have sleepovers anymore since she was always pulling her nightshirt down, feeling it was too short. As strange as it sounded, it seemed that suddenly she was acutely aware that he was a boy and she was a girl. "Well, thanks for bailing me out today," she said finally.

"Anytime. So, listen," Jake added, "you know how my parents have kind of gotten over the fact that I'm a Dad, but the rest of my family, like the grandmother are still a bit upset about the whole issue?"

"Yeah, but I thought you said you weren't gonna let that bother you."

"I'm not. It's just that, as you know, my grandma is a pretty religious and she's finally managed to accept the situation 'cause there's nothing she can do to change it, but she wants Jenny to be raised in 'the Christian way'," he said putting the last three words in air brackets.

"What does she mean by that? Isn't Jenny too young for Sunday church?"

"I think so, although grandma still wants to take her. But what she really wants me to do now is have Jenny baptized."

"Oh. So are you?"

"Well, my parents think I should, especially since it'll keep grandma happy so I'm going to."

"Okay," Peyton nodded.

"So when she gets baptized, Jenny's gonna need a godmother."

"Yeah…"

"I was thinking of asking Haley."

_Oh_. She definitely hadn't seen that one coming. Peyton composed herself enough to answer, "I think Haley will like that."

"I think she will too," Jake replied. Then, he grinned at Peyton and the look on his face made her think he wasn't being entirely serious.

"Are-are you joking?"

"No. But you thought I was going to say something else…"

"Um…well…" _Of course_!

"Peyton…" Jake began, his hand lightly holding hers. "The reason I didn't ask you to be Jenny's godmother is because I think of you more as…her real mother."

"Oh…" Peyton smiled at him widely and found her hand tightening her grip on his. A lock of her hair fell in front of her face and instinctively Jake's free hand reached up to brush it away. The mood changed the moment his fingers touched her cheek and Peyton found herself staring into his eyes, which seemed to be coming closer to hers every second.

And then he was kissing her.

When they both pulled away Peyton blushed and looked at the safest place…Jenny. Jake followed her gaze and observed, "She's stopped crying."

"Yeah…Jake?" she added a few moments later. "Sometimes I think of Jenny as mine too," she admitted.

"She is."

This time it was Peyton who initiated the kiss, leaning up into him, her weight causing him to fall back on the bed. Jake was about to roll her over so she was lying underneath him, when Peyton jerked away.

"What's wrong?" he asked as she jumped off the bed.

"Jenny," she told him. Peyton looked down at the little girl. "She's too little to see us kissing or maybe more."

"'Maybe more'?" Jake wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Is that a promise?"

"Jake!" Peyton blushed.

He grabbed her by the waist and pulled Peyton back onto the bed. "She can't see us from there." Peyton gave in and started kissing him back when they were suddenly interrupted by the sound of the door opening, a slight yelp and the door banging shut. Jake groaned. "But, apparently, my mother doesn't know how to knock."

_**End Flashback**_


	13. Chapter 13: Epilogue Part 3

**A/N: This time, it's really the end! Thank you to everyone who reviewed. This is one of those stories where, after I planned and wrote it, it didn't turn out the way I had first thought, but I liked it in the end and I hope you did too. Thanks for the support, and don't forget to review one last time.**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Epilogue Part 3**

Surprisingly, Haley thought, her life hadn't been as dramatic as her friends. Well, that wasn't entirely true. She'd had a lot of family drama throughout the years, and she didn't even know where her parents were now as they traveled across America in their RV, but her life with Nathan had been fairly smooth.

Even though she liked him as early as when she was seven, and he had liked her too, she had felt they were too young to do anything then. One day she'd finally told him that they should be friends and if their feelings were still there when they were older then they could date. Nathan had agreedand they had become close friends, as well as Nathan becoming closer to Lucas. However, one day when they were thirteen, and Haley was starting to feel like she was ready to date, she found out that Nathan was going on a date with some other girl!

Deciding that it was because his feelings for her had faded away Haley had tried to be the supportive friend, but she was hurt because her feelings had never wavered and she was also a little mad at herself because she thought that if she had said something earlier they could have dated before. Haley had kept her feelings bottled up until the day she revealed them to Jake when he told her how he felt about Peyton. Unknown to Haley, Jake then conspired with Lucas to find out Nathan's feelings. It didn't take much prodding from them to discover that Nathan still liked Haley, but had been convinced that now she only saw him as a friend.

Brooke, Lucas, Jake and Peyton, with a little help from Tim, had managed set them up and Haley and Nathan finally admitted their feelings for each other. From that day, in the eighth grade, Nathan and Haley had started dating and the only serious drama in their relationship had been caused because of her family; her older sister Taylor, as a matter of fact.

Taylor had come back to Tree Hill when they were in their junior year of high school, and at the most inopportune moment it turned out, as Haley and Nathan were just in the middle of a major fight because Nathan was jealous of Haley's friendship with the new shop assistant at the music store, Chris Keller. Taylor had then moved in on Nathan, but even though he was mad, he still loved Haley. Haley and Brooke had realized what Taylor was up to as well, and even before she left town Nathan and Haley were already back together. The following summer he proposed.

"Haley? Are you ready?" Brooke's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

She nodded. "Yeah."

Brooke hugged her as did Peyton and now thirteen-year old Hilary Jagielski. Brooke had tears in her eyes.

"Aunt Brooke, are you crying?" Hilary asked.

"No, I'm fine," she told her. "I'm just so happy for you Haley." She squeezed her best friend's hand.

"I'm happy for me too," Haley admitted.

Little Jenny, who had just celebrated her first birthday, wiggled about in Peyton's arms and giggled her agreement.

Just then, there was a knock on the door and Jake and Mr. Durham entered. The girls exited, Peyton giving Jenny to Jake to hold. "You look beautiful Haley," Jake said, before following the girls out.

"Thanks."

Now alone in the room, Mr. Durham smiled at Haley. When they all got older he told them to call him Whitey, and Lucas and Nathan did. But to Haley he'd always be Mr. Durham. "Look at you, Haley-bop. I still remember when you and Lucas had that party together for your sixth birthdays. You were wearing that princess outfit and made Lucas carry everything for you because princess' didn't do hard work." Haley blushed at the memory. "Now…little Haley's not so little anymore."

"Thank you, Mr. Durham," she told him.

"For what?"

"For walking me…"

"Well, I haven't done it yet," he informed her. They both laughed. He held his arm out for her and she linked hers through his. As they walked out the door of the room she heard him whisper, "You're welcome."

_**Flashback:**_

"Nathan Scott! You come out here this instant!" Haley yelled. He didn't reply. Again. "Nathan, if you don't come out here right now, I'm leav-"

"Boo."

"Aaaaaaaaah!" she screamed, jumped backwards and knocked over a vase on the shelf next to her.

"Hales, what did you do that for," he chided her, teasingly.

"What did I do?" She started slapping his arm. "It was your fault."

Nathan bent down to pick up the vase, and two pieces came off the top in his hand. "You broke it."

"Well, I wouldn't have broken it if you hadn't scared me," she said, still mad.

He put the vase back down on the floor behind the shelf so it was hidden from a certain viewpoint. He then put the two pieces that had broken off into the vase and took Haley by the arm. "Come on."

"We can't just leave it like that," she protested.

"Well if someone sees us with it they might make us pay for it and it's a damn ugly thing too. Plus, with your scream someone's bound to turn up soon."

"You scared me!"

"I didn't think you'd scream so loud."

They were out of the building now and the sun was burning down on them. Haley stopped walking as Nathan put his sunglasses on. "Why did you bring me here anyway?"

"I wanted to show you something."

"Well, I don't want to see it." She folded her arms and turned away from him like a small child and the eighteen year old that she was.

"Hales, please," Nathan pouted. "I'm sure you'll like it." He turned her around and put on his puppy-dog eyes, knowing she couldn't resist. However, this time it seemed to have no effect. In fact…she seemed to be laughing. "What's funny?"

"N-nothing," she said between giggles.

"Then why are you laughing?"

"You're tr-trying to show me your puppy-dog eyes…" Here she stopped and snorted.

"So!"

"You're wearing your sunglasses!"

_Oh._ Nathan took them off and showed her the eyes again.

"That's not fair," Haley whined, her resolve crumbling.

"It's for our wedding," he told her sweetly.

"Our wedding! Well, why didn't you say so? Let's go!" She started walking in the way he'd been trying to take her, but then she stopped and faced him. "But any more behavior like what you did inside and then maybe there won't be a wedding." She narrowed her eyes and pointed her finger at him to show she wasn't joking, but her small nose ruffled up too and the look became more comic than serious.

Grinning, Nathan took the hand she was using to point at him and kissed it, before moving forward to slowly kiss a trail up her neck to her ear. "You know you can't resist me, baby."

"Mmmm…" Haley sighed as her hands came into his hair. "But I have to at least have some control in this relationship."

_Who was she kidding?_ Nathan thought. She had all the control. As much as he sometimes acted otherwise all she had to do was say the word and he'd be there. He was well and truly whipped, as Tim continuously reminded him. Not that he was complaining though, Nathan reminded himself as Haley's hands started to massage his scalp.

Forcing himself to break away, Nathan looked into her eyes. "So do you wanna see it now?"

"Uh-huh." Haley nodded dimly, her mind still on the sensations he'd been creating the second before.

Nathan took Haley's hand in his and led her to the garden located behind the building they'd just come out of.

After proposing to her the summer before senior year, Nathan and Haley had first decided to wait until their high school graduation to get married. However, as the weeks had worn on, neither wanted to wait a whole year before the wedding took place. The location for Haley's dream wedding had been a spot on the back of the beach, hidden by piles of rocks where all these lovely purple flowers grew. She had liked that spot when they were younger, always going there on days they went to the beach, and Nathan had proposed to her there in memory of the first time they talked to each other on a part of the beach not too far away from there when they were only seven years old. Unfortunately, when they went to visit that place again to see if they could have their wedding there, there were lots of trucks digging it up because of a new building being constructed.

Wedding preparations had gone on but they were still without a location. If they couldn't find anywhere they would have to just have it at one of their houses, but Nathan knew Haley wanted it to be somewhere special and because she did so did he. He had been searching for the perfect location, but hadn't found anything. Until now.

"Close your eyes," he told her as they approached the small garden.

"Nathan," she whined, but complied anyway. He directed her to the front, and when she was standing directly in the centre of the entrance he told her to open them.

Haley opened her eyes to the most beautiful garden she had ever seen. There were two big rectangles of grass on either side and they were lined with lots of colourful flowers, little ones in the middle and tall ones on the far edge, including, if her eyes weren't deceiving her, those purple ones like there used to be on the beach that she liked so much. In between the two patches of grass was a straight pathway leading up to an archway which was lined with small red and white roses.

"Nathan," she breathed, "it's amazing."

"I talked to the guy who owns this whole place. They let it out for weddings. He said what most couples do is have the ceremony out here and then the reception inside where you broke the vase –"

"You mean where you broke the vase," she retorted, still staring at the garden.

"It's not expensive either," Nathan added. Nathan was willing to dig deep into his family's money to give Haley her dream wedding, but she was always checking the price of everything to make sure they weren't spending too much. "That is, if you want to have the wedding here."

She spun around and stared at him incredulously. "Of course I want to!" she exclaimed, before jumping up into his arms.

**_End Flashback_**

Haley grinned at the memory of that day. She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost didn't here the music playing, telling her that Hilary, Peyton and her maid of honour Brooke had all gone it was now her turn to walk down the aisle. Mr. Durham sort of nudged her to bring her back and she sent him a small smile to show him she was ready.

They began walking down the aisle, and Haley immediately looked to find Nathan who was standing straight ahead, his gaze locked on her. Her grin widened, as did his as she made her way towards him, past all the guests, including Karen and Keith, who were now married, Deb, and surprisingly even Dan.

Without even realizing it, they had finished walking, and she was at the beautiful little archway already. She took her place opposite Nathan and let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. As the ceremony began, Haley found she was only half-paying attention; she was more engrossed with how handsome Nathan looked in his tux. "I love you," she mouthed.

"I like your dress," he mouthed back, and winked at her.

Haley blushed, and felt herself turning to mush as she always did when he sent that smirk. She hoped no one noticed her turning red, but then again, she doubted there were many people who weren't looking their way.

Looking back at Nathan, Haley saw him mouth, "I love you."

Haley smiled as she thought, not of their past, but of their future. It wasn't going be easy, that she knew. They were both going to Duke together, but there would probably be other problems that came their way. When they started dating after being friends so long, they fought with each other more, although they always made up. Haley knew Nathan hated chores and housework of any kind, and those would probably be sore pots between them when they began living together. Yet, as Nathan started to say his vow, she knew that they would be able to get past it all.

"Someday, this beach might wash away. The oceans may dry. The sun could dim. But on that day, I'll still be loving you. Always and forever. I promise you, Haley."

Because in the end, she realized, that was all that really mattered.

**The end.**


End file.
